Method for Providing Information Related to Item and Electronic Apparatus Using the Same

ABSTRACT

The present disclosure relates to a method of receiving information related to a plurality of items, mapping the received information related to items to each of a plurality of cells, comparing at least some of the information related to the items mapped to eachof the cells with a threshold value, and providing information related to the cells based on the comparison result, and an electronic apparatus.

This application is a continuation application of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 17/153,284, filed Jan. 20, 2021, which claimspriority to Korean patent application No. 10-2020-0183379, filed on Dec.24, 2020, the contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference intheir entirety.

BACKGROUND Technical Field

The present disclosure relates to an electronic apparatus for providinginformation related to cells in which items are located in adistribution center, and a method of providing information related tothe items.

Description of the Related Art

A system for storing and managing ordered items to be delivered tocustomers is increasing in importance amid today's economic growth. Newproducts are constantly being developed, and many products are beingreleased on the market in real time for consumer purchase. Although thisgrowth provides consumers with more choice opportunities for theconsumers to choose from a variety of products and services, businesses(for example, retail stores, wholesalers, and the like) are havingdifficulty storing and managing these increasing number of items.

Prior Art: Korean Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 10-2010-0038957.

The prior art discloses a method of operating a high-stage loadingsystem to improve productivity of a container terminal by minimizingwaiting for work. As described above, there is a need for a method ofefficiently performing work after loading items in the field ofdistribution.

Meanwhile, in a physical location (for example, a fulfillment center)where items are stored, a batch may be used as a unit of picking forefficiency of work. In this case, since items are classified by batch inconsideration of the convenience of picking, managing the items on abatch basis may result in lowered efficiency even when processes such asshipping are performed after the picking.

Therefore, there is a need for a method of managing information relatedto items in consideration of convenience in performing processes afterpicking items included in a batch.

SUMMARY Technical Goals

Example embodiments disclosed herein are directed to an electronicapparatus and an operation method thereof. The technical goals to beachieved by the example embodiments of the present disclosure are notlimited to the technical problems described above, and other technicalgoals may be inferred from the following example embodiments.

Technical Solutions

According a first example embodiment, there is provided a method ofproviding information related to cells in which items are arranged by anelectronic apparatus, the method including acquiring first informationrelated to at least one tote; checking second information related to atleast some of a plurality of items included in each of the at least onetote, mapping at least some of the information related to the itemslocated in each of the at least one tote and information related to eachcell corresponding to each of the at least one tote based on the firstinformation and the second information, comparing at least some of theinformation related to the items mapped to each cell with a thresholdvalue, and providing information related to a plurality of cells basedon the comparison result.

According to a second example embodiment, there is also provided anelectronic apparatus for providing information related to cells in whichitems are arranged, the electronic apparatus including a memory storingat least one instruction anda processor executing the at least oneinstruction to acquire first information related to at least one tote,check second information related to at least some of a plurality ofitems included in each of the at least one tote, map at least some ofthe information related to the items located in each of the at least onetote and information related to each cell corresponding to each of theat least one tote based on the first information and the secondinformation, compare at least some of the information related to theitems mapped to each cell with a threshold value, and provideinformation related to a plurality of cells basedon the comparisonresult.

According to a third example embodiment, there is also provided acomputer-readable recording medium including a non-transitory recordingmedium recorded with a program allowing a computer to execute theabove-mentioned method.

Detailed contents of other embodiments are described in the detaileddescription and are illustrated in the accompanying drawings.

According to the present disclosure, an electronic apparatus mayeffectively perform processes such as shipping after picking byproviding a user with information (for example, expected shipping dateor elapsed time after receiving information related to items) related toitems arranged in each cell or information related to a work status ofeach cell.

Effects of the present disclosure are not limited to the above-mentionedeffects, and other effects that are not mentioned will be clearlyunderstood by those skilled in the art from the description of theclaims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a system for providinginformationrelated to items in a distribution center according to anexample embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of a fulfillment center which is anexample of a physical location where items are stored.

FIG. 3 is a diagram for describing a first example embodimentofproviding information related to cells in which items are arranged.

FIG. 4 is a diagram for describing a second example embodiment ofproviding information related to cells in which items are arranged.

FIG. 5 is a diagram for describing a third example embodiment ofproviding information related to cells in which items are arranged.

FIG. 6 is a diagram for describing a fourth example embodiment ofproviding information related to items included in a tote.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart for describing a method of providing informationrelated to cells, in which items are arranged, by an electronicapparatus according to an example embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart for describing a method of providing informationrelated to cells, in which items are arranged, by an electronicapparatus according to another example embodiment.

FIG. 9 is a diagram for describing an example embodiment in which aterminal provides information related to items.

FIG. 10 is a block diagram of an electronic apparatus according to anexample embodiment.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart for describing a method of operating a terminal.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The terms used in the embodiments are selected, as much as possible,from general terms that are widely used at present while taking intoconsideration the functions obtained in accordance with the presentdisclosure, but these terms may be replaced by other terms based onintentions of those skilled in the art, customs, emergence of newtechnologies, or the like. Also, in a particular case, terms that arearbitrarily selected by the applicant of the present disclosure may beused. In this case, the meanings of these terms may be described incorresponding description parts of the disclosure. Accordingly, itshould be noted that the terms used herein should be construed based onpractical meanings thereof and the whole content of this specification,rather than being simply construed based on names of the terms.

In the entire specification, when an element is referred to as“including” another element, the element should not be understood asexcluding other elements so long as there is no special conflictingdescription, and the element may include at least one other element. Inaddition, the terms “unit” and “module”, for example, may refer to acomponent that exerts at least one function or operation, and may berealized in hardware or software, or may be realized by combination ofhardware and software.

The expression “at least one of A, B, and C” may include the followingmeanings: A alone; B alone; C alone; both A and B together; both A and Ctogether; both B and C together; and all three of A, B, and C together.

In the present disclosure, a “terminal” may be implemented as a computeror a portable terminal capable of accessing a server or another terminalthrough a network. Here, the computer may include, for example, a laptopcomputer, a desktop computer, and a notebook equipped with a webbrowser. The portable terminal may be a wireless communication deviceensuring a portability and a mobility, and include any type of handheldwireless communication device, for example, a tablet PC, a smartphone, acommunication-based terminal such as international mobiletelecommunication (IMT), code division multiple access (CDMA), W-codedivision multiple access (W-CDMA), and long-term evolution (LTE).

In the following description, example embodiments of the presentdisclosure will be described in detail with reference to the drawings sothat those skilled in the art can easily carry out the presentdisclosure. The present disclosure may be embodied in many differentforms and is not limited to the embodiments described herein.

Hereinafter, example embodiments of the present disclosure will bedescribed with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a system for providing informationrelated to items according to an example embodiment.

Referring to FIG. 1, the system for providing information related toitems may include an electronic apparatus 100 and a terminal 200. In thesystem illustrated in FIG. 1, only components related to the presentexample embodiment are illustrated. Accordingly, it can be understood bythose of ordinary skill in the art related to the present exampleembodiment that other general-purpose components may be further includedin addition to the components illustrated in FIG. 1.

The electronic apparatus 100 and the terminal 200 may communicate witheach other within a network. The network may include a local areanetwork (LAN), a wide area network (WAN), a value-added network (VAN), amobile radio communication network, a satellite communication network,or a combination thereof, may be a data communication network in acomprehensive meaning that enables configuration subjects of eachnetwork to smoothly communicate with each other, and may include wiredInternet, wireless Internet, or a mobile wireless communication network.Examples of wireless communication may include wireless LAN (Wi-Fi),Bluetooth, Bluetooth low energy, Zigbee, Wi-Fi direct (WFD),ultra-wideband (UWB), Infrared Data Association (IrDA), near fieldcommunication (NFC), and the like, but are not limited thereto.

The electronic apparatus 100 may operate a system for providinginformation related to items. Specifically, in a distribution center ora fulfillment center that uses a system for providing informationrelated to items, a plurality of items are stored in totes and managed,and each tote may be located in the same cell or in different cells.

In this case, the terminal 200 may recognize at least one ofidentification information of or related to items, identificationinformation of totes, and identification information of cells, andtransmit information related to the recognized identificationinformation to the electronic apparatus 100. Thereafter, the electronicapparatus 100 may check information related to the plurality of itemsincluded in the totes, and map information related to cellscorresponding to each tote to information related to items included ineach tote.

In addition, the electronic apparatus 100 may compare at least some ofinformation related to items mapped to each cell with a threshold value,and provide information related to a plurality of cells to a user basedon the comparison result. In addition, the electronic apparatus 100 maytransmit the comparison result to the terminal 200.

The electronic apparatus 100 may provide a platform for inventorymanagement or monitoring a status of items stocked in a distributioncenter. Specifically, the electronic apparatus 100 may provide anapplication for using information related to the status of items and theinventory management to the terminal 200. Workers and managers in thedistribution center may use the terminal 200 to check the informationrelated to the status of items and the inventory management. Forexample, the electronic apparatus 100 may be included in a server forthe inventory management or monitoring the status of items stocked inthe distribution center.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of a fulfillment center (FC) 2 that is anexample of a storage space for items.

The fulfillment center 2 is an example of a physical location whereordered items to be delivered to customers are stored, and may bedivided into a plurality of areas, which may be represented asillustrated in FIG. 2.

An inbound zone 203 represents an area of the FC 2 in which items arereceived from sellers. For example, a seller may use truck 201 todeliver items 202A and 202B. The item 202A may represent a single itemlarge enough to occupy its own transport pallet, while the item 202B mayrepresent a set of items loaded together on the same pallet to savespace.

A worker may receive items in the inbound zone 203 and check the itemsfor damage and accuracy. For example, the worker may compare thequantity of the items 202A and 202B with the order quantity of theitems, and move these items to a buffer zone 205 (for example, using adolly, a hand truck, or a forklift 206, or manually) if the quantitiesmatch. The buffer zone 205 may be, for example, a temporary storage areafor items that are not currently required in a picking zone 209 becausethere is a very sufficient quantity of corresponding items in thepicking zone 209 to meet the predicted demand.

A drop zone 207 may be an area of the FC 2 in which items are storedbefore moving to the picking zone 209. A worker assigned to the pickingwork may access the items 202A and 202B in the drop zone 207, andrecognize identification information (for example, barcodes) related tothe picking zone 209 and identification information of the items 202Aand 202B using a mobile device (for example, a user terminal).Thereafter, the worker may put the items in a cart or carry the items tomove the items to the picking zone 209.

The picking zone 209 may be an area of the FC 2 in which items 208 arestored in a storage unit 210. In particular, according to the presentdisclosure, a user may pick items in the storage unit 210 within thepicking zone 209 according to a picking plan in order to create adisplay space and place the items in assigned locations. In someembodiments, the storage unit 210 may include one or more of a physicalshelf, a wall, a cell, a bookcase, a box, a tote, a refrigerator, afreezer, a cold storage warehouse, and the like. In some embodiments,the picking zone 209 may be formed of a plurality of layers. Inaddition, in some embodiments, a worker or machine may move items to thepicking zone 209 in several ways, including, for example, a forklift, anelevator, a conveyor belt, a cart, a hand truck, a dolly, an automatedrobot, or a device, or manually.

When a purchaser places an order, a worker may retrieve one or moreitems 208 from the storage unit 210, recognize identificationinformation of the items208, and place the items on a transportmechanism 214. Thereafter, the items 208 may arrive at a packing zone211 via the transport mechanism 214.

The packing zone 211 may be an area of the FC 2 related to a package inwhich items are received from the picking zone 209 and are packaged in abox 216 or a bag for final transport to a purchaser. A hub zone 213 maybe an area of the FC 2 in which all packages 218 are received from thepacking zone 211. A worker and/or machine in the hub zone 213 mayretrieve the packages 218, determine to which part of a delivery areaeach package is intended to be delivered, and route the packages to anappropriate camp zone 215. In some embodiments, a worker or machine mayrecognize identification information of the packages in the camp zone215 and determine the final destination of the packages. In theexemplary FIG. 2, the camp zone 215 includes a truck 222, a car 226, anddelivery workers 224A and 224B.

The present disclosure relates to a series of processes after pickingitems in units of totes and/or cells mainly performed in the pickingzone 209 of the FC 2, but is not limited to the above zone.

FIG. 3 is a diagram for describing a first example embodiment ofproviding information related to cells in which items are arranged.

According to an example embodiment, the electronic apparatus 100 mayprovide information related to a plurality of cells based on informationrelated to items mapped to each cell.

The electronic apparatus 100 according to the example embodiment mayidentify the total number of cells and the number of currently workingcells, and then provide a user with information related to a work statusof cells based on the identificationresult. For example, when one ormore items included in a tote are located in a cell, the electronicapparatus 100 may define the corresponding cell as a currently workingcell. In this case, upon receiving a signal indicating that items arearranged in a tote, the electronic apparatus 100 may map thecorresponding item and the tote. In addition, the electronic apparatus100 may respond that a worker scans identification information of a toteand identification information of a cell while placing the tote in thecell, thereby mapping the corresponding tote and the cell.

In addition, as illustrated in FIG. 3, the electronic apparatus 100 maydisplay the total number of cells and the number of working cells, andschematize a ratio of working cells and provide the schematized ratio ofworking cells to a user.

In addition, the electronic apparatus 100 may identify items whoseexpected shipping date (ExSD) is imminent, based on the expectedshipping date among information related to items mapped to each cell.For example, the electronic apparatus 100 may identify items whoseexpected shipping date has already passed, items whose time remaininguntil the expected shipping date is less than 30 minutes, and itemswhose time remaining until the expected shipping date is 30 minutes ormore and less than 1 hour. Further, the electronic apparatus 100 mayidentify the number of cells mapped to each item based on theidentification result. For example, when there are two items whose timeremaining until the expected shipping date is less than 30 minutes, theelectronic apparatus 100 may identify the number of cells mapped to thecorresponding items and then provide the identification result to auser. When two items whose time remaining until the expected shippingdate is less than 30 minutes are mapped to one cell, the electronicapparatus 100 may determine the number of cells mapped to thecorresponding items as 1.

In this case, the electronic apparatus 100 may represent informationrelated to cells in different ways of representation. For example, theelectronic apparatus 100 may display the information related to thenumber of cells including the items whose expected shipping date hasalready passed in red, and display the information related to the numberof cells including the items whose time remaining until the expectedshipping date is less than 30 minutes in blue.

Meanwhile, FIG. 3 illustrates 30 minutes, 1 hour, and the like asthreshold values compared with the time remaining until the expectedshipping date, butit is obvious to a person skilled in the art that thethreshold values can be changed according to system design requirementswithout being limited thereto.

In addition, when work on items mapped to cells is not performed above athreshold value, the electronic apparatus 100 may provide informationrelated to the sum of the cells to a user. Referring to FIG. 3, theelectronic apparatus 100 may provide the number of cells 310 whose finalscan history for items mapped to cells exceeds 1 hour. The user maymonitor the work status in the distribution center or the FC 2 throughthe information related to these cells, and take additional action oncells that have not been working for a long period of time.

FIG. 4 is a diagram for describing a second example embodiment ofproviding information related to a cell in which items are arranged.

According to an example embodiment, the electronic apparatus 100 mayprovide a user with location information of a wall and a work status ofthe wall. Here, the wall is a unit including a plurality of cells, andmay be defined as a unit corresponding to each camp.

For example, the electronic apparatus 100 may classify each wallaccording to a location, and then display the total sum of wallsarranged at each location, the number of working walls, and the numberof available walls.

In addition, the electronic apparatus 100 may represent the number ofcells included in each wall and the number of working cells, and providea user with the number of cells including the items whose expectedshipping date is imminent, based on the expected shipping date amonginformation related to items mapped to each cell.

Referring to FIG. 4, the total number of walls arranged on a first flooris 12, in which two of the 12 walls are working. In addition, it can beseen that the total number of cells included in the first floor wall is276. Through the information related to the walls and cells, the usermay monitor a work status of each wall in the distribution center.

FIG. 5 is a diagram for describing a third example embodiment ofproviding information related to cells in which items are arranged.

According to an example embodiment, the electronic apparatus 100 mayprovide identification information of each cell, information related tototes mapped to each cell, and the like.

Referring to FIGS. 5, A01 to A09 may be defined as the identificationinformation of cells. In addition, identification information14-RCRT0-3-219 of a tote corresponding to a second cell A02 is displayedtogether with the identification information of the second cell A02, anda user input for the identification information 14-RCRT0-3-219 of a totemay be received. Information provided to a user when a user input foridentification information (for example, 14-RCRT0-38-373) of a tote isreceived will be described in detail with reference to FIG. 6.

Meanwhile, the electronic apparatus 100 may map, to each cell, the mostimminent expected shipping date among the expected shipping dates of theitems mapped to each cell and provide the mapped most imminent expectedshipping date to a user.

In addition, the electronic apparatus 100 may order and provide expectedshipping dates of a plurality of items mapped to a plurality of cells.Referring to FIG. 5, the electronic apparatus 100 may provide toteidentification information of each tote corresponding to the second cellA02 to the eleventh cell A11. As indicated by reference numeral 510 ofFIG. 5, among the expected shipping dates of the items mapped to thesecond cell A02 to the eleventh cell A11, an expected shipping date oftwo items whose expected shipping date is imminent may be providedtogether with batch identification information.

Meanwhile, the electronic apparatus 100 may provide batch informationrelated to each cell, and the batch may be defined as a unit for pickingitems. In other words, a plurality of items may be picked in units ofbatches. In this case, since items are classified by batch inconsideration of the convenience of picking, the convenience of work islikely to decrease when processes such as shipping after picking areperformed in units of batches. Accordingly, in the distribution centeror the FC 2 using the present disclosure, work on items may be performedin units of totes.

In addition, the electronic apparatus 100 may provide the user with anidle time after at least one of the information related to totescorresponding to each cell and the information related to items includedin the totes is received, so that the user may identify cells that havenot been working for a long period of time.

FIG. 6 is a diagram for describing a fourth example embodiment ofproviding information related to items included in a tote.

The electronic apparatus 100 according to an example embodiment mayprovide information related to items included in the corresponding totebased on a user input for identification information of the tote.

For example, when a user input for identification information14-RCRT0-38-373 of a first tote corresponding to a first cell A01 ofFIG. 5 is received, the electronic apparatus 100 may provide theinformation illustrated in FIG. 6. Specifically, the electronicapparatus 100 may provide identification information, informationrelatedto a type, a size, a destination, and the like of an item, butthe information related to the item provided by the electronic apparatus100 is not limited thereto.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart for describing a method of providing informationrelated to cells in which items are arranged, by an electronic apparatusaccording to an example embodiment.

In operation S710, an electronic apparatus 100 may acquire firstinformation related to at least one tote. Here, the first informationmay include identification information of the tote, but is not limitedthereto.

In operation S720, second information related to at least some of theplurality of items included in each of the at least one tote may bechecked. Here, the second information may include the identificationinformation of the item, but is not limited thereto.

In operation S730, the electronic apparatus 100 may map at least some ofthe information related to the items located in each of the at least onetote andinformation related to each cell corresponding to each of the atleast one tote based on the first information and the secondinformation.

In operation S740, the electronic apparatus 100 may compare at leastsome of the information related to the items mapped to each cell with athreshold value.

In operation S750, the electronic apparatus 100 may provide informationrelated to a plurality of cells based on the comparison result.

Meanwhile, operation S740 may include an operation of comparing the timeremaining until the expected shipping date of the items mapped to eachcell with the first threshold value. In this case, operation S750 mayinclude an operation of providing the number of cells mapped to itemswhose time remaining until the expected shipping date is less than thefirst threshold value.

Here, operation S740 may further include an operation of comparing thetime remaining until the expected shipping date of the items mapped toeach cell with a second threshold value. In this case, operation S750may further include an operation of providing the number of cells mappedto items whose time remaining until the expected shipping date exceedsthe first threshold value and is less than the second threshold valueand the number of cells mapped to items whose time remaining until theexpected shipping date is less than the first threshold value indifferent ways of representation.

In this case, the different ways of representation may include at leastone of text of different colors, different alarm sounds, presence orabsence of flickering, and backgrounds of different colors, but are notlimited thereto.

Meanwhile, when cells mapped to different items whose time remaininguntil the expected shipping date is less than the first threshold valueare the same, the number of cells provided may increase by 1.

Meanwhile, operation S750 may further include an operation of providinginformation related to the most imminent expected shipping date amongthe expected shipping dates of the items mapped to each cell.

In addition, the method of the present disclosure may further include anoperation of providing the identification information of the totescorresponding to each cell, and an operation of providing at least someof the information related to the items included in the totes based onthe user input corresponding to the identification information of thetotes.

In this case, at least some of the information related to the itemincluded in the tote may be at least one of identification information,information relatedto type, size, and destination of the item.

In addition, the method of the present disclosure may further includeanoperation of receiving information indicating that the work on the firsttote corresponding to the first cell has been completed, and anoperation of updating the tote corresponding to the first cell to asecond tote instead of the first tote.

Meanwhile, operation S750 may further include an operation of providinginformation related to an elapsed time from at least one of the timewhen the first information is acquired and the time when the secondinformation is checked. In this case, the method may further include anoperation of transmitting at least one of the identification informationof the first tote, the identification information of the cell mapped tothe first tote, and the location information of the cell mapped to thefirst tote to a terminal when a time elapses beyond a third thresholdvalue after the time when the information related to the first tote isreceived.

Meanwhile, operation S750 may include an operation of providing theinformation related to the plurality of cells according to the statusinformation of each cell determined based on a processing result of workon the items mapped to each cell.In this case, the information relatedto the plurality of cells may include at least one of the number ofworking cells, the total number of cells, location information of thetotal cells, and an average value of the time required for the work ofthe plurality of cells.

In addition, the method of the present disclosure may further include anoperation of providing information related to a wall including aplurality of cells. In this case, the information related to the wallmay include at least one of the total number of walls, locations of thetotal walls, the number of working walls, and the number of currentlyavailable walls.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart for describing a method of providing informationrelated to cells in which items are arranged, by an electronic apparatusaccording to another example embodiment.

In operation S810, an electronic apparatus 100 may determine whether thetime remaining until the expected shipping date of the item is less thanthe first threshold value. If the time remaining until the expectedshipping date of the item is less than the first threshold value,operation S820 may be performed, and otherwise, operation S830 may beperformed. For example, the first threshold value may be 30 minutes,butis not limited thereto.

In operation S820, the electronic apparatus 100 may provide the numberof cells mapped to the items in the form of text of a first color. Forexample, the electronic apparatus 100 may provide a user with the numberof cells mapped to items whose time remaining until the expectedshipping date is less than the first threshold value, that is, itemswhose expected shipping date is closer than the first threshold value,in the form of red text. Here, it is assumed that the first color isred, but the first color is not limited thereto.

In operation S830, the electronic apparatus 100 may determine whetherthe time remaining until the expected shipping date of the item is lessthan the second threshold value. If the time remaining until theexpected shipping date of the item is less than the second thresholdvalue, operation S840 may be performed. Here, the second threshold valueis a value greater than the first threshold value. For example, thesecond threshold value may be 1 hour, but the value of the secondthreshold value is not limited thereto.

In operation S840, the electronic apparatus 100 may provide the numberof cells mapped to the items in the form of text of a second color. Forexample, the electronic apparatus 100 may provide a user with the numberof cells mapped to items whose time remaining until the expectedshipping date exceeds the first threshold value and is less than thesecond threshold value, that is, items whose expected shipping dateexceeds the first threshold value but is closer than the secondthreshold value, in the form of blue text. Here, it is assumed that thesecond color is blue, but the second color is not limited thereto.

FIG. 9 is a diagram for describing an example embodiment in which aterminal provides information related to items.

According to an example embodiment, the electronic apparatus 100 mayreceive information related to the progress of work on the tote oncerecognized, and then provide information related to a cell correspondingto the corresponding tote to a manager terminal 900 when the work on thecorresponding tote is not performed for a certain period of time.

Referring to FIG. 9, the electronic apparatus 100 may receiveinformation related to items in units of totes included in cell A03, andthen provide to the manager terminal 900 that the information related tothe progress of work has not been received for 6 minutes. In this case,the electronic apparatus 100 may provide the location information of thecell to the terminal together, and in addition, it is obvious to aperson skilled in the art that the electronic apparatus 100 may furtherprovide the manager terminal 900 with information necessary for amanager to understand the work status of the cell or take additionalactions.

FIG. 10 is a block diagram of an electronic apparatus according to anexample embodiment.

An electronic apparatus 1000 may include a memory 1010 and a processor1020 according to an example embodiment. In the electronic apparatus1000 of FIG. 10, only components related to the present exampleembodiment are illustrated. Accordingly, it can be understood by thoseof ordinary skill in the art related to the present example embodimentthat other general-purpose components may be further included inaddition to the components illustrated in FIG. 10. The electronicapparatus 1000 may include contents related to the electronic apparatus100, and therefore description of overlapping contents will be omitted.

The memory 1010 is hardware that stores various types of data processedin the electronic apparatus 1000. For example, the memory 1010 may storedata that has been processed and will be process in the electronicapparatus 1000. The memory 1010 may store at least one instruction foran operation of the processor 1020. In addition, the memory 1010 maystore programs, applications, or the like to be driven by the electronicapparatus 1000. The memory 1010 may include a random-access memory (RAM)such as a dynamic random-access memory (DRAM) and a static random-accessmemory (SRAM), a read-only memory (ROM), an electrically erasableprogrammable read-only memory (EEPROM), a CD-ROM, a Blu-ray or otheroptical disk storage, a hard disk drive (HDD), a solid-state drive(SSD), or a flash memory.

The processor 1020 may control the overall operation of the electronicapparatus 1000 and process data and signals. The processor 1020 maycontrol the electronic apparatus 1000 on the whole by executing at leastone instruction or at least one program stored in the memory 1010. Theprocessor 1020 may be implemented by a central processing unit (CPU), agraphics processing unit (GPU), an application processor (AP), or thelike, but is not limited thereto.

The processor 1020 may receive information related to a plurality ofitems in units of totes, map the received information related to itemsto each cell in the units of totes, compare at least some of theinformation related to the items mapped to each cell with a thresholdvalue, and provide the information related to the plurality ofcellsbased on the comparison result.

In addition, the processor 1020 may compare the time remaining until anexpected shipping date of the items mapped to each cell with a firstthreshold value. In this case, the processor 1020 may provide the numberof cells mapped to items whose time remaining until the expectedshipping date is less than the first threshold value.

Meanwhile, when cells mapped to different items whose time remaininguntil the expected shipping date is less than the first threshold valueare the same, the number of cells provided by the processor 1020 mayincrease by 1.

Here, the processor 1020 may further compare the time remaining untilthe expected shipping date of the items mapped to each cell with asecond threshold value. In this case, the processor 1020 may provide thenumber of cells mapped to items whose time remaining until the expectedshipping date exceeds the first threshold value and is less than thesecond threshold value and the number of cells mapped to items whosetime remaining until the expected shipping date is less than the firstthreshold value in different ways of representation.

In this case, the different ways of representation may include at leastone of text of different colors, different alarm sounds, presence orabsence of flickering, and backgrounds of different colors, but are notlimited thereto.

Meanwhile, the processor 1020 may provide the information related to themost imminent expected shipping date among the expected shipping datesof the items mapped to each cell.

In addition, the processor 1020 may provide identification informationof the totes corresponding to each cell, and provide at least some ofthe information related to the items included in the totes based on auser input corresponding to the identification information of the totes.

In this case, at least some of the information related to the itemincluded in the tote may be at least one of identification information,information relatedto type, size, and destination of the item.

Meanwhile, the processor 1020 may receive the information indicatingthat the work on a first tote corresponding to a first cell has beencompleted, and update the tote corresponding to the first cell to asecond tote instead of the first tote.

Meanwhile, the processor 1020 may provide information on an elapsed timefrom at least one of the time when the first information is acquired andthe time when the second information is checked. In this case, theprocessor 1020 may transmit at least one of the identificationinformation of the first tote, the identification information of thecell mapped to the first tote, and the location information of the cellmapped to the first tote to a terminal when a time elapses beyond athird threshold value after the time when the information related to thefirst tote is received.

In addition, the processor 1020 may provide the information related to aplurality of cells according to the status information of each celldetermined based on a processing result of work on the items mapped toeach cell. In this case, the information related to the plurality ofcells may include at least one of the number of working cells,the totalnumber of cells, location information of the total cells, and an averagevalue of the time required for the work of the plurality of cells.

In addition, the processor 1020 may provide information related to awall including a plurality of cells. In this case, the informationrelated to the wall may include at least one of the total number ofwalls, locations of the total walls, the number of working walls, andthe number of currently available walls.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart for describing a method of operating a terminal.

In operation S1110, as the terminal 200 recognizes the identificationinformation of the tote, the terminal 200 may receive informationrelated to a plurality of items in units of totes. For example, sincethe terminal 200 may include an image sensor, the identificationinformation of the tote may be acquired through the image sensor of theterminal 200. In addition, since the terminal 200 may include acontroller, the controller of the terminal 200 may control the imagesensor to acquire the identification information of the tote. Inaddition, the terminal 200 may acquire information related to itemsincluded in the tote, based on the identification information of thetote.

In operation S1120, the terminal 200 may recognizeidentificationinformation of a cell in which a plurality of items inunits of totes are arranged. In this case, the controller of theterminal 200 may control the image sensor to acquire the identificationinformation of the cell.

In operation S1130, the terminal 200 may transmit the informationrelated to the plurality of items in units of totes and theidentification information of the cell to a server. Since the terminal200 may include a communication device, the terminal 200 may transmitthe information related to the cell and the information related to theplurality of items in units of totes to an external electronic apparatusthrough the communication device.

In operation S1140, when the information related to the plurality ofcells is received from the server, the terminal 200 may provide thereceived information. According to an example embodiment, since theterminal 200 may include a display, the terminal 200 may display theinformation related to the plurality of cells through the display. Inaddition, since the terminal 200 may include the controller, thecontroller of the terminal 200 may control the display or thecommunication device to provide the information related to the pluralityof cells.

The electronic apparatus or terminal according to the above-describedembodiments may include a processor, a memory that stores and executesprogram data, a permanent storage such as a disk drive, a communicationport that communicates with an external device, a touch panel, a key, auser interface device such as a button, and the like. Methodsimplemented as software modules or algorithms may be stored on acomputer-readable recording medium as computer-readable codes or programinstructions executable on the processor. Here, examples of thecomputer-readable recording medium may include magnetic storage media(for example, a read-only memory (ROM), a random-access memory (RAM), afloppy disk, a hard disk, etc.),optical reading media (for example, aCD-ROM or a digital versatile disc (DVD)), and the like. Thecomputer-readable recording medium may be distributed in computersystems connected to each other through a network, and as a result, thecomputer-readable codes may be stored in a distributed scheme andexecuted. The medium may be readable by a computer, stored in a memory,and executed on a processor.

The present embodiment may be represented by functional blockconfigurations and various processing steps. These functional blocks maybe implemented by various numbers of hardware and/or software componentsthat execute specific functions. For example, the embodiment may employintegrated circuit configurations, such as memory, processing, logic,and a look-up table, capable of executing various functions by controlof one or more microprocessors or other control devices. Similar toexecuting the components in software programming or software elements,the present embodiment can be implemented in programming or scriptinglanguages such as C, C++, Java, and assembler, including variousalgorithms implemented by a combination of data structures, processes,routines or other programming configurations. Functional aspects may beimplemented in algorithms executed on one or more processors, Inaddition, the present embodiment may employ a conventional technologyfor electronic environment setting, signal processing, and/or dataprocessing, and the like. Terms such as “mechanism,” “element,” “means,”and “configuration” may be used widely, and are not limited tomechanical and physical configurations. The terms may include themeaning of a series of routines of software in connection with aprocessor or the like.

The above-described embodiments are merely examples, and otherembodiments may be implemented within the scope of the following claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method of providing information related tocells in which items are arranged by an electronic apparatus, the methodcomprising: receiving first information related to at least one tote;identifying second information related to at least some of a pluralityof items included in each of the at least one tote; identifyinginformation related to each cell corresponding to each of the at leastone tote when time at which the first information is received elapses byexceeding a first threshold value related to an elapsed time afterreceiving information related to a tote, wherein the information relatedto the each cell includes location information of the each cell andidentification information of the each cell; mapping at least some ofinformation related to items located in each of the at least one tote tothe information related to the each cell based on the first informationand the second information; comparing at least some of the informationrelated to the items mapped to the each cell with a second thresholdvalue and a third threshold value; and providing information related toa plurality of cells based on the comparison result.
 2. The method ofclaim 1, wherein the comparing the at least some of the informationrelated to the items mapped to the each of the cells with the secondthreshold value and the third threshold value comprises: configuring thesecond threshold value and the third threshold value for a referencethreshold value to compare a time remaining until an expected shippingtime of an item mapped to the each cell, and comparing the secondthreshold value and the third threshold value with the time remaininguntil the expected shipping time of the item mapped to the each cell. 3.The method of claim 2, wherein the information related to the pluralityof cells includes: first cell information including a number of cellsmapped to items past expected shipping time, second cell informationincluding a number of cells mapped to items in which time remaininguntil expected shipping time is less than the second threshold value,third cell information including a number of cells mapped to items inwhich time remaining until expected shipping time is greater than thesecond threshold value and is less than the third threshold value, andfourth cell information including a number of cells mapped to items inwhich time exceeding the third threshold value has elapsed since lastoperation was performed, and wherein the fourth cell informationincludes information indicating that time exceeding the third thresholdvalue has elapsed after last operation on an item mapped to a cellcorresponding to the fourth cell information is performed.
 4. The methodof claim 3, wherein when a same cell is mapped to different items whosetime remaining until expected shipping time is less than the secondthreshold value, a count of cells in the second cell informationincreases by
 1. 5. The method of claim 3, wherein the second cellinformation and the third cell information are provided in differentways of representation.
 6. The method of claim 5, wherein the differentways of representation comprise at least one of text of differentcolors, different alarm sounds, a presence or an absence of flickering,and backgrounds of different colors.
 7. The method of claim 1, whereinthe information related to the plurality of cells includes batchidentification information and expected shipping time information for aspecific number of items in order of imminent expected shipping timeamong expected shipping times mapped to the each cell.
 8. The method ofclaim 1, wherein the providing the information related to the pluralityof cells comprises providing information related to an elapsed timeafter at least one of the time at which the first information isreceived and a time at which the second information is identified. 9.The method of claim 1, further comprising: providing identificationinformation of tote corresponding to each cell; and providing at leastsome of the information related to the items included in the tote basedon a user input corresponding to the identification information of thetote.
 10. The method of claim 1, further comprising: receivinginformation indicating that work on a first tote corresponding to afirst cell is completed; and updating a tote corresponding to the firstcell to a second tote instead of the first tote.
 11. The method of claim1, wherein the providing the information related to the plurality ofcells comprises providing the information related to the plurality ofcells according to status information of each cell determined based on aprocessing result of work on items mapped to each cell.
 12. The methodof claim 11, wherein the information related to the plurality of cellsincludes at least one of a number of working cells, a number of totalcells, location information of the total cells, and an average value ofwork time of the plurality of cells.
 13. The method of claim 11, furthercomprising: providing information related to a wall including theplurality of cells, wherein the information related to the wall includesat least one of a number of total walls, location of the total walls, anumber of working walls, and a number of currently available walls. 14.A non-transitory computer-readable recording medium comprising a programallowing a computer to execute the method of claim
 1. 15. An electronicapparatus for providing information related to cells in which items arearranged, the electronic apparatus comprising: a memory comprising atleast one instruction; and a processor, wherein the processor isconfigured to execute the at least one instruction to perform: receivingfirst information related to at least one tote; identifying secondinformation related to at least some of a plurality of items included ineach of the at least one tote; identifying information related to eachcell corresponding to each of the at least one tote when time at whichthe first information is received elapses by exceeding a first thresholdvalue related to elapsed time after receiving information related to atote, wherein the information related to the each cell includes locationinformation of the each cell and identification information of the eachcell; mapping at least some of information related to items located ineach of the at least one tote to the information related to the eachcell based on the first information and the second information;comparing at least some of the information related to the items mappedto the each cell with a second threshold value and a third thresholdvalue; and providing information related to a plurality of cells basedon the comparison result.